When I agreed to read this book I had absolutely no idea what I was saying yes to. I was running low on book ideas and when this one was offered I jumped at it. But then I started reading the book. It wasn’t as drab as the black and white cover suggested but rife with mystery, creepy coincidences and plot twists; and I’m only on chapter 7!

For those who have never read nor heard of this book, it is a story of a young boy, lead by the stories his grandfather told him as a child, who travels to an almost deserted island in search of Miss Peregrine and her home for children. The key point in this book are the stories told by the grandfather. For these are not stories of a refugee of World War Two, these are stories of adventure and danger. Monsters and the supernatural. But no one believes these stories because to everyone else, they are just fairy tales.

And this leads me to my point and an important quote: “We cling to our fairy tales until the price for believing them becomes too high.” (Riggs 118). The narrator (whose name is Jacob) says that eventually all must let go of their fairy tales and that he eventually did the same. But soon, contradicting this point, the stories Jacob’s grandfather told him rise up and plant that seed of superstition in his mind when he is in high school. This shows understanding of human nature on the author’s part and the way many think. One of the most beloved fairy tales of childhood is Santa Clause. It is a fairy tale that parents strive to preserve and children flourish with. Yet after reaching a certain age believing in Santa Clause is no longer endearing, it’s pathetic, embarrassing. That’s the ‘price’ for holding onto innocence and fairy tales.

There is a saying “innocence is bliss. ” Jacob held onto his fairy tales and grandfather’s stories, his innocence, until the price, payed through bullies and ridicule, became too high. But there is also a saying “everything comes at a price.” And the comfort of being without ridicule came at a high price. Jacob finds this when the stories he once believed to be fairy tales came back to haunt him. Riggs shows this contrast of prices throughout what I’ve read so far in the book.

The way this book is going so far is promising. There is mystery, fantasy, history and tragedy all in the first few chapters. I can honestly say I am glad I agreed to read this book. If writing a blog is the price for reading this book, it’s worth it.

15 responses to ““Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children” By Ransom Riggs”

I have to say I definitely agree with Mikayla when she said she was glad she started Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. See I told you it looked good Mikayla! , ( btw, I found the book 🙂 ). The major thing that popped out to me was how relatable the main character Jacob is. He’s charming, sarcastic, headstrong, willful, dripping with teenage angst, and has the longing to explore and seek adventure. I immediately felt like I was right there along side him through his journey to the mysterious island of Cairnholm, due to the fact that this novel is told from his point of view.
Another thing I found really interesting was the relationship Jacob has with his grandfather. It really got me thinking about the relationships we have with others, and how each of those relationships are entirely unique from one another. In the Jacob-grandfather relationship, Jacob puts his grandfather on such a high pedestal, and really seems to worship him. A good example of this is when Riggs writes, “It was true, of course, what my dad had said: I did worship my grandfather. There were things about him that I needed to be true, and his being an adulterer was not one of them. When I was a kid, Grandpa Portman’s fantastic stories meant that it was possible to live a magical life. Even after I stopped believing them, there was still something magical about m grandfather” (Riggs, 92). To me, this was such a great quote exemplifying the main dynamic of Jacob and Grandpa Portman’s relationship. Jacob honored and respected his grandfather as a kid, and still looked up to him later on, even after knowing that the fantastical stories his grandpa told him as a kid were untrue, and that he may have not been all the man that Jacob initially believed he was to be. I think this shows how much love, dedication, and loyalty we often put into relationships, despite any conflicting road bumps that may happen along the way.
I think that after Jacob realizes the truth about his grandpa and his tall tales, his view of him is altered. But he later realizes that even though a large portion of their relationship was based on and centered around this fairytales, their emotional connection, love, and admiration for each other was what truly mattered in the end.

Already, I am not looking forward to spending another three months with Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (I am sorry Sophie). When we were choosing books to read, like Mikayla, I did not know what I was getting into. I had a very different experience with the book though, and sadly enough, I did not find the book as exciting or mysterious as she did. I am fully aware of the fact that I am naturally a critical person; I have to try my hardest to avoid criticizing every book I read so that I can fully enjoy it. For some books, this is easier to do. This was not one of those books.
Beginning from the first few chapters, I was already irritated by the novel. There were several things that bothered me about Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, but I will limit myself to only mentioning a few. First of all, I normally avoid the “popular teen novels” other kids my age read. A lot of the books my friends strongly recommended to me I find frustrating for the same reasons I find Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children frustrating, one of the reasons being: they are overly teenager-ish. The book’s opening lines describe the narrator assembling boxes of diapers into towers, attempting to get himself fired: “Rarely had I worked so hard at anything, and yet no matter how incompetent I pretended to be, Shelley stubbornly kept me on the payroll,” (Riggs 2). Is this truly how the author behaved at that age, or is he attempting to grab our attention because he believes we can relate to this? I am positive Riggs is past his teen years, and trying to revive the “teenager” in him for the book only makes it feel inauthentic. I do not think I would mind Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children so much if it were written from the perspective of a thirty-year old. Then again, the book is not written from the perspective of a thirty-year old, and it just happens to be a bestseller among teens, so am I really the only one who finds this annoying? For some reason, I was not able to connect with the main character in the same way Sophie did, even though there were some things I really did like about him. Do I think that differently from others? That was not the only thing that annoyed me, however. The plot was unoriginal: during another monotonous summer an old man who keeps secrets from his family is suddenly murdered, but leaves behind some kind of riddle as his dying words. Of course, no one believes the main character’s story, so the main character embarks on some kind of journey to decipher the riddle and prove everyone wrong (or in this case, himself as well). As for the main character’s relationship with his grandfather, it was loving and dedicated, but I did not find it that moving because of the way the grandfather neglected his own son.
As I read on and started to notice a theme formulating, I later realized that Riggs had done a clever job setting up Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. The prologue introduces the stories of his grandfather and explains that they were partly true, and that the pictures were real too. What the author leaves out is how much of it was true, and before he finishes his story, he moves on to Jacob’s. The way the prologue was woven in to the rest of the story was intriguing. It fit in well with the theme of imagination versus reality, and “the price” that one pays for that Mikayla wrote about. In the story, Jacob wanted to believe the town instead of his grandfather’s stories, even though he had seen the monsters with his own eyes. The reader of this story is given the same decision; the amount of truth to the story is never revealed, and he can choose to believe as much as he wants from it. I think this aspect of the book is unique, and I hope it will play a larger role in the story later on because it could make the entire difference between whether I end up liking Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children or not.

I’m not entirely sure what I think of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children yet. Like Mikayla and Lauren, I did not have a book in mind that I wanted to read so when Sophie suggested this book I agreed to read it without even looking to see what it was about. The reason I am reluctant to pass judgement on this book so far is that there are many things I dislike about it but there are an equal number of elements that I appreciate. In this way, I am choosing to wait until I have read more to make an opinion. I had the same issue with the main character as Lauren. I could not give a reason why, but throughout the first few chapters of the book I never really connected to the main character and his struggles. There were parts of his plight that I could imagine myself relating to, but he never drew me in and made me feel like I was experiencing the events of the story along with him. However, from a more practical point of view, I like the way this book is written. Again, I agree with Lauren that Riggs may be forcing the teenage angst, but I could appreciate his literary devices from an intellectual standpoint. One of these moments occurs in chapter three when Riggs writes, “Looming and bleak, folded in mist, guarded by a million screeching birds, it looked like some ancient fortress constructed by giants. As I gazed up at its sheer cliffs, tops disappearing in a reef of ghostly clouds, the idea that this was a magical place didn’t seem so ridiculous” (Riggs 15%). It is imagery like this that truly impressed me. The few times I felt like I connected to the book were most often when the author used incredible imagery like this. All in all, when reflecting on the first few chapters of this book I took into account Mrs. Huss’s question about whether you relate to a piece of poetry emotionally or intellectually. So far, I definitely relate to this book from an intellectual place so that I can appreciate the author’s work while I am yet to connect to it emotionally. I look forward to continuing this book to see if I ever do make a real connection to the main character.

So far Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, for me, has been a good reading experience. I have to admit however, I definitely judged this book by its cover. A black and white photograph of a levitating girl on the front, and creepy vintage photographs on the back? I thought Ransom Riggs must have this book brimming with haunting imagery and oddities, and too some extent my hypothesis was proven true within the first few chapters. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, I am a fan of ghost stories and horror movies so I have taken a liking to this book. I completely agree with Sophie in the fact that Jacob, the protagonist of the story is very relatable, with his moody teenage habits, and I too have felt like I’ve been apart of his journey to Cairnholm. Like Cami, I too have been impressed with Riggs fantastic use of imagery in his writing, and the scenes he describes are so vivid and picturesque that it also help me feel like I’ve been alongside Jacob every step of the way. One quote particularly grabbed my attention when Jacob describes seeing Miss Peregrine’s home for the first time, “What stood before me now was no refuge from monsters but a monster itself, staring down from its perch on the hill with vacant hunger. Trees burst forth from broken windows and skins of scabrous vine gnawed at the walls like antibodies attacking a virus-as if nature itself had waged was against it-“(Riggs 78). What powerful images this description ignites in a readers brain! If this was still the poetry unit, it would be safe to say Rigg’s used personification, metaphor, and similes to support Jacob’s first account of seeing the house. The more I get into the book however, the more I feel like I’m watching back to back episodes of Lost (tons of new mysteries introduced with no explanation, each episode, in this case chapter). What significance did the peregrine have when Jacob discovered it in his room? What about the photographs that keep popping up throughout the book? The preserved brains and other organs found in the basement? The tentacle-mouthed monster who killed Abe Portman? I’m hoping all this will be explained to me in the future of the book, because it’s beginning to get difficult to keep up with this constant mystery. Now I have very high expectations for the ending of the story. It better be good, and not like the Hunger Game’s Trilogy ending. Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is a thought provoking book that in cooperates, mystery, fantasy, and a tiny bit of horror very nicely together. I’m glad this book was chosen for Independent Reading this quarter.

So far, there are still things that I dislike about Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, but I am starting to enjoy the book more. It sounds like most of you (except for me and Cami) easily connected with the main character and everyone delighted in the author’s writing style and imagery. I also like his imagery, and I think it makes up for the parts of the book that I do not like so much. My opinions of the book have not changed a lot, but at least I do not have to force myself to read it because I am required to anymore. The second section of the book turned out to be more interesting than I had expected it to be. Like before, I still think some of the author’s main ideas are unoriginal, but there were some creative parts to the book that I did like. I thought Jacob’s discovery of the “loop” was creative; Riggs almost had me convinced that the children were dead, and then he took me by surprise by revealing that the kids were living in some kind of magical house where days repeated themselves forever.

When I remembered that this whole adventure had started with Jacob’s grandfather dying, I had to wonder a few things. First of all, how did his grandfather really expect him to figure out this riddle? I know if I were Jacob, I would probably forget what he had said before the day even ended. If I did manage to remember it and write it down, I would have no luck with actually being able to decode the riddle. Mostly everything Jacob managed to figure out was a coincidence. Next, the headmistress and peculiar children all hinted that Jacob had some kind of power, just like his grandfather. What could this be and why did his grandfather suggest that he hide there? Personally, I think it would be a waste of a life if I had to redo every day and never leave the same city for decades, but I have a feeling that Jacob may end up living in Miss Peregrine’s house. Finally, what happened to the house after it was bombed and what were all those organs doing in preserved jars? Like Alex, I have several questions, and while I hope they will be answered, I do not want them to be answered too soon because they are captivating and make me want to read more.
So far, this book is turning out to be okay, and I can only hope it will get better from here.
P.S. In my last post, I had mistaken the Prologue for an author’s note, so sorry for the confusion! I thought the book was actually about the author’s life and that he had turned his experiences into some kind of imaginative fairy tale (the story would be fantastic if that was really the case!).

So recently I’ve reviewed the comments left from this section as well as the last one, and I have to say that I actually really like the fact that that we have several different opinions about this book. I really agree with what Lauren said in her most recent post about the second section of this book. I think it’s a lot better than the first, more gripping and fast-paced, and it finally deals with more of the magical element that I thought this book would initially contain. I also strongly agree with what Cami said in her last post about how the vivid imagery was what really made this book enjoyable to read. By far, like I mentioned earlier, the most exciting thing I’ve read in this section has to do with the magical elements that are emerging. I was so excited that the children from the photographs were brought into the story in a more complex way, (them existing only in a time warp) rather then just living in Jacob’s modern day. I thought this was interesting because throughout the first section of this book, Jacob continually talks about how he has these visions of running into or discovering some of these characters, an example being on page 83 when Riggs writes, “I tried to convince myself that it was possible someone could still live here, run-down as it was. Such things weren’t unheard of where I came from-a falling-down wreck on the edge of town, curtains permanently drawn, that would turn out to have been home to some ancient recluse who’d been surviving on ramen and toenail clippings since immemorial, though no one realizes it until a property appraiser or an overly ambitious census taker barges in to find the poor soul.” (Riggs, 83). I thought it was cool that Jacob finally got to see these characters, especially since it was not in the way the readers may have been expecting him to. I think that passage is also a great and raw insight into Jacob’s head, as well as his overall observations.
So far, I’m still really liking this book, and this section specifically is quite thought-provoking and mystical. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next.

I’m sorry to say that after reading the second section of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, my opinions have changed immensely about this book. Unlike Sophie and Lauren who seem to be enjoying it a little more, I found that I was enjoying it less and less as I continued reading. I agree with Lauren that Riggs’ concept of “loops” in this book is creative, but unfortunately that’s what changed my attitude towards it. I think Riggs is simply overdoing his story a little bit. There’s too many genres I think this book could fit the main one being fantasy, but in the first section the light horror elements made it seem like a ghost story, and now time travel? I liked this book originally for the general creepiness of it because as I mentioned earlier I’m a fan of horror, but now all of the suspense that made it fun for me to read is gone. I think its also becoming slightly complex, combining this world of ymbrynes and loops, with the original mystery of the life of Abraham Portman. Also, what happened to the tentacle-faced monster that killed Jacob’s grandfather? He seems to have become completely irrelevant to the story now and I believe that monster is intended to play a much larger part than only appearing once during the time of the murder. It’s a little too over the top for me at this moment and at this rate I don’t think it’s going to slow down, but I’m still excited for what’s to come in the next section of reading. One thing I like about this book however is you can tell the author is having a lot of fun writing this book. His word choice and humor gives this book a playful innocent tone that is easily in cooperated into the seriousness this book occasionally brings. His writing sort of reminds me of the style of Lemony Snicket who wrote the A Series of Unfortunate Events books, one of my favorite series I read when I was younger, so this tale of mystery is somewhat nostalgic as it brings back memories from when I read about the mystery of the Baudelaire orphans.

During the third section of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, I am finding myself with various questions and predictions. First I want to start off with where I’m at in terms of my liking for this section compared to the first two sections. I thought the first section was interesting, but it just took a little too long to build up the overall plot and it took too long to foreshadow future events that would occur.This being said, I really liked the second section a lot more than the first. We were finally getting somewhere with the actual plot! Now I’ve finished the third section, and I’m not quite sure where I stand. Of course it would be unrealistic to call this book unrealistic. The main character is stuck in a 1940s time warp for heaven’s sake! It’s just that I don’t think that the second section of the book was a strong enough transition from the non-magical and drearier first section to the fantastical and mystical content of the third one. It seemed like Jacob was just a normal teenager going through adolescence and wanting to explore a family mystery. Then he was suddenly catapulted into this world of mutant children and a day that repeats itself in the 1940s over and over again. I think that the way the author composed the events that led to each other was just too farfetched and not cohesive.

Even though I don’t like every part of this section, I do have some ideas for what could happen next. I have a feeling that when Riggs used foreshadowing about the 1940s time warp, shown when he writes, “‘And as if that weren’t enough, we must also ensure that our loops reset each day like clockwork.’
‘What happens if they don’t?’ She raised a fluttering hand to her brow and staggered back, pantomiming horror. ‘Catastrophe, cataclysm, disaster! I dare not even think of it. Fortunately, the mechanism by which loops are reset is a simple one: One of us must cross through the entryway every so often.’” (Riggs 160), this is possibly opening an opportunity for something to go very wrong with the warp. What would happen in the story if the loop didn’t repeat one day? I wonder if this may happen mostly due to the fact that Miss Peregrine dismisses the idea so quickly and with horror.

Really I don’t know what more can happen in the book with all of the magical surprises and new adventures Jacob continues to go on. I guess I’ll just have to keep reading, and find out what happens next.

After finishing the third quarter of the book, I have to agree with Alex when he says that the book was overdone. I was enjoying the suspense and excitement that the second section had to bring, but with a lot of the mysteries still unresolved and the author piling on more and more problems, the plot is getting a little overwhelming. A few of Jacob’s questions have been answered, but there are several more complexities that have now been introduced to the story: Emma’s flirting with Jacob, the hollows on a mission to destroy loops around the world, Jacob’s discovery of his own powers, and the distrust developed between him and his father. With such a complex plot, the author has been neglecting the things that can make books outstanding. In Life of Pi, I remember enjoying Pi’s musings throughout nearly half the book though nothing exciting was happening. In To Kill a Mockingbird, it was not the plot, but the themes that were incorporated in the book that made it so meaningful.

Like Sophie, I also have some ideas about what will happen next. I found a lot of foreshadowing in the book that made me suspect that something terrible would happen to the children in Miss Peregrine’s loop. I am almost positive the action will get extremely intense in the next quarter of the book. Also, I have a feeling that Jacob will eventually have to tell his father what has been happening. How long could one really hide a secret like his? Jacob’s stories do not seem believable at all, and if Jacob keeps going to the house he will have to make up more stories until his dad knows for sure that he is lying. Or maybe if Jacob does tell him the truth, his dad will never accept the idea of magical children and monsters, and think that Jacob is crazy like his grandfather was.

The second quarter of the book was extremely informative and gave way to many of my bigger questions. Many new characters were introduced, including Emma. Emma is one of the peculiar children who has the power to create fire’s with her bare hands. She’s quite a prominent character and one I very much enjoy reading about.
Reading about her, I get the sense that Emma has been through a lot. While she may seem like an uptight, disobedient little girl, she is very insightful and sensitive. Some of this sensitivity is seen when she find’s out that Jacob’s grandfather Abe, whom she loved very, very dearly, is dead, she is distraught and burst into tears. Emma is character who I believe will play a great role in Jacob’s journey through this mystery and help him to unravel the secrets his grandfather left behind.
If you were to look back at Jacob’s life before coming to the island and meeting Emma and the rest of the children, you would have seen that it was relatively lonely. His family didn’t really care for him, only what he could do for him and his only friend really wasn’t much a friend, but just kind of a friendly acquaintance. The only person Jacob truly felt close to was his grandfather and something, or someone, took that from him. I believe that meeting the peculiar children will not only show Jacob what it’s like to have a true friend whom you can trust with your life, but also give him the opportunity to avenge what was taken from him.
This section, although I submitted my opinion very late (apologies), had me very excited. Getting answers and meeting new characters is extremely important and this section most definitely delivered. I find that this author is excellent at curving your appetite for this book; giving you small answers at a time so you don’t get angry and throw the book away but still keeping you unbelievably frustrated with not knowing what is going to happen next and having no idea what’s coming.

I must say towards the end of the book I began to get slightly disappointed. Often when I read a book, I expect the author to explain or describe certain references, not simply assume that the reader will just know everything he is talking about. When I read a book with unfamiliar terms, I continue reading, expecting the author to clarify so that I may understand what certain characters are talking about. In this book, the term ‘wight’ was not clarified until very late, yet a large chunk of the plot was unveiled very early on. Not that this is a bad thing, but since Riggs used the term ‘wight’ quite a bit, I wished he would have clarified the meaning a bit sooner so that it didn’t feel like I was being kept out of the loop (pun not intended).
The story is still extremely fascinating. While still confusing, I’m enjoying the plot twists and changes, although I agree with everyone else when saying that it is becoming difficult to keep track of. Apart from the issue’s of the Hollows and Wights (finally learned what it meant) Jacob deals with a lot of internal battles. Especially concerning Emma. Jacob feels that being with Emma, who is his dead grandfather’s ex girlfriend is just a bit strange. He doesn’t want to disrespect his grandfather nor does he want to sacrifice his relationship with Emma all for a clear conscience.
All in all I still enjoy this book. It’s not as riveting as it was in the beginning but I still find the plot refreshing and creative. It’s very difficult to come up with a plot such as this one and manage to keep it from becoming outlandish and completely childish. Granted there is a level of fantasy to the story line, but that is to be expected and not at all a let down. While there is always room for improvement, I don’t regret my decision to read this story.

Just finished with the third section of the book (sorry guys, a little late!). Though at first I did not like the sudden tone shift of the book, how it went from dark and creepy to light and happy, in the third section of this story I must say, it’s kind of grown on me. I definitely like the relationship that is blossoming between Jacob and Emma a lot, but once again, how Lauren agreed with me earlier, the book is simply being overdone. There’s too many bits and pieces and elements of this story that contribute to the plot and I’m not sure at this point what’s important and what’s not to keep in the back of my mind while reading. I like how each of the peculiar children have their own individual traits that make up their unique personalities, this makes the story fun and interesting to read because there is always something new to learn about each of the characters.
Okay, like I’ve mentioned several times throughout these blog posts, what happened to the monster in the beginning of the book? I was beginning to think he would never reappear, but finally I think he has followed Jacob to Cairnholm! Though it was not specified in the book, from the sheep being violently murdered and thrown around their pen, I think it’s very obvious who the murderer is. The monster is back guys………hopefully. This brings me to have some concern for Jacob though, why hasn’t he caught onto that the monster possibly might be the sheep killer? At my place in the book he just goes to bed thinking about Emma, not even giving the sheep incident another thought. C’mon Jacob, use your brain.
Though the plot is overdone, I like this book, it definitely is a page turner and I look forward to what the last section and the ending of the book will bring. I’m interested to see how Riggs is going to rap the book up.

For this last section of Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, I have to agree with the opinion of many of my group members, which is that I finished it feeling unsatisfied. I truthfully liked the overall story but there were many aspects of the book near the end that I just wasn’t too fond of.
The first one, has kind of been a recurring concept. It’s the romantic relationship between Jacob and Emma. I really just thought this aspect of the story was far too cliche, and I think this took strength away from Jacob’s character. I had a lot of respect and interest for Jacob’s character, but when he falls for the same girl his grandfather had a romantic relationship with I was just like ‘really?!’ I liked the initial idea that Jacob was on this mission to find out more about his Grandfather’s past and I think the reader knew he’d be heroic in some way or another. This is very unlike me to say, but I just didn’t like the romantic element of the book, and I think it made Jacob more vulnerable and less driven towards his goal. Not only that, but I mean technically, Emma is actually dead. Especially after reading Romeo and Juliet, I’m just a little tired and bored of these unrealistic romantic relationships!
The other thing I really didn’t like was how we were just left to wonder if the children will find another time loop. I get that the author wants to leave us wanting to know more, but this following the reveal that Miss Peregrine cannot change out of her bird form, I was just like ‘come on!’ (for the 10th time). I think Riggs shouldn’t have left all of these unanswered questions for the second book. I think this was especially bad because he took up so much of the book to foreshadow, build a very basic plot, and then he just dumped the main conflict into the story near the end of the book.
Even though I have these complaints, I still really loved the book, (even though many
components of it could have been better written). I don’t regret reading it, like Mikayla, and mainly because there are still all these things I’m curious about, I just bought the second one yesterday!! It has a really cool cover, just so you know 🙂

For the record, I do not regret reading this book like Sophie said I did. (Pay attention to what your reading Sophie!) And finishing this book, I have a few critiques for the author.
I’ve read a few adventure books in my short time on earth so I have a pretty good idea what these books need. Most of the time, books such as this one are interesting, mysterious and keep you on your toes. While this book was most definitely interesting, and extremely mysterious at the beginning, it began to become predictable towards the end. Good guys beat the bad guys, guy gets the girl, everyone lives happily ever after. The best books, that win massive awards and have movies made out of them, have a massive twist at the end. Something the reader can’t predict. Something that make’s them yell “OMG!” in the middle of the science lecture they were ignoring. This book, though interesting and definitely original, didn’t have that. I wasn’t bouncing up and down, smiling like a loon or screaming at my kindle while reading it. I was just reading it. I was reading a fun, interesting book that I enjoyed but probably would read again.
That brings me to my second point. The romance in the book was a little bit much. While I appreciated how open Emma was and how forward she was, often, in books such as this one, romance is unnecessary. People don’t buy the book for romance, so there is really no reason for it to be in there. It’s best to focus on the story, on the adventure and the mystery, than a relationship that people won’t remember.
This book was interesting, fresh and a good read. I enjoyed the storyline and the idea of it, but I think that it needs a lot of tweaking. I DID NOT regret reading and curious to see what this book will be like as a movie. (Tim Burton is taking this story on as another fascinating film of his.)

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children does not exactly stand out to me in any way. It is interesting to read and imaginative, but not phenomenal. The voice of a regular teen-aged boy that Riggs uses is somewhat annoying at times, but besides that the book’s voice is pretty typical. The imagery and writing style is also okay, but only enhances the book slightly. There are not many other literary devices used; I do not think this novel is meant to be analyzed too deeply. While I was reading it, I did not see many themes, and the lessons that are in the book are barely emphasized at all. One theme that I do like though, is when Jacob and his father learned to allow themselves to sacrifice being “grown up” to believe in things they normally would not believe in. This one does appear often throughout the novel, as Jacob discovers more about his family and learns from the peculiar children. As for the characters, I have enjoyed the different personalities of the peculiar children and how they are able to play and act so young as elderly men and women.

Another part of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children that none of us have discussed yet is the way the author used the pictures. I read Ransom Riggs’ interview at the end of the book and learned that he had a collection of 100,000 pictures that he found to work into the story. After reading that, I thought it was pretty amazing how perfectly he was able to make the pictures fit in with the story even if he only used a few out of the several he had collected. Lastly, I think that sections of the plot that are creative, but a lot of it is cheesy (like the romance that some of you have written about). Again, in some places the plot is overdone, but in other places the action is actually boring. It may be that the author is trying so hard to keep his readers engaged that he ends up driving them away instead (this could also be the cause of my frustrations in the beginning of the book).

Overall, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children was not too horrible, but also not amazing. I went back and forth quite a bit between liking the book and being angry at it, but my two sides have now averaged out into an uninterested position in the middle. That is why I gave it a five out of ten rating; it was just an average book, so I wanted to give it an average score.
I am guessing that by now it is pretty obvious what I would say as a recommendation of this book: it is not really worth it to read.